I get the impression this first story might have been influenced by a disgruntled tailor with a fussy customer. People, for the last time, if you turn around and find a store or building that you knew wasn’t there the last time you looked–and there’s an eery fog surrounding it, complete with appropriately perched blackbirds and wind chimes–do not go in, and do not buy anything. Or at least don’t accept packages from mysterious gentlemen with sinister smiles.

I feel like horror is one of the few genres that tends to truly suffer if you reveal the ending of a story. That, and obviously mysteries or thrillers. The Shrine is a movie you should watch first, without any sort of spoilers, if you really want to see the story in its entirety and get the most out of it. Because…well, I can’t say much. What I will say is this: when you are traveling, if the people in a village don’t want you to be there…go away. Don’t explore. Don’t stick around. Don’t argue. Just leave.

That, in essence, is one of the establishing factors in The Shrine that really helps set the mood. It’s not merely a mystery, but a supernatural thriller. The best kind. Also, of course, best enjoyed in the dark at night…possibly alone, unless you absolutely need someone to cling to. On another watch, I realized this one still held strong, and that made it even better for the kind of story it is. Nice, creepy, and a sort of moral story (which all good horror should be, if you follow the premise any good, dark Grimm faerie tale.)

Please, do yourself a favor, and watch this movie. It’s on Netflix…it’s waiting for you. Also…maybe avoid the forest for awhile. Just in case.

Back in middle school, our library had a hidden room. Well, not so much hidden as restricted, but I like to imagine there was a bookcase in front of the door, blocking the secrets no 5th-6th grader should ever find themselves privy to. I was a pretty avid reader at the time, and still am, so the librarian let me sneak into the room one day and pick out any book I wanted to read.

There were so many to pick, so many delightful books with thick and embossed binding. Most of them were just kept in that room because the reading level was too high, or the copies were too valuable to let kids touch. I was one of the lucky few, the chosen ones, and I knew I had to pick the perfect book. I was told this would be my only chance…so I took a good half hour to find something I would never regret reading…

Tucked on one of the bottom shelves, with an orange-ish red binding, and looking practically new…I found it. A part of me thought this book wasn’t supposed to be there, that some evil (and magical) force had conjured it into being. After all, a middle school library with a book about the DEVIL? It was unbelievable! So I pulled it out and flipped it open, examining some of the amusing illustrations of a trickster devil often finding himself the fool of his own pranks. With some trepidation, I took the book to the front desk and asked to check it out.

She didn’t even look at the title. That same voice telling me this was not supposed to be here told me she must be seeing something altogether different than one I was. Perhaps to her a picture of a bunny rabbit snuggling a teddy bear was on the cover, or maybe a battalion of unicorns. No matter. I checked the book out, and I read it that very night. I read it once. Then the next day I read it again. And the following week or so I kept re-reading it until I had to check the book back in.

I was right, you know. Not about the book being magic…it really wasn’t. In fact, many of the stories were charming little fairy tales with a somewhat less than intimidating version of Lucifer often being made to look like an idiot. But she never did let me back into that room…part of me suspects it’s because she actually read the cover when I checked the book back in.

I’m sorry this was such a long story just for a ‘book of the week’ article, but I didn’t know how else to tell you how wonderful this little book is, and how much it deserves to be discovered again and again by anyone who’s willing to take a chance…

Perhaps I should have touched on this in our devil podcast, but it hadn’t sprung to mind at the time. Focusing on one of my favorite tropes, Faustian deals, ‘The Juggler’ is the story of a young boy who becomes enchanted when he sees a man juggling. Deciding he wants to become the greatest juggler in the world, he eventually meets the devil and makes a deal. What’s more, he has nothing to lose besides his soul, because in the very beginning everyone he knew or loved was murdered in a horrible raid on his village.

The Juggler is unique in one major aspect. You didn’t want the protagonist to lose. I actually found myself genuinely liking him as a person, and in a way this book reminded me of ‘Little Big Man’. He meets all manner of characters, many of them are men who perhaps made their own deals with the devil and meet pretty miserable fates before their relationship with The Juggler comes to an end. It’s a pretty scary little read, and beyond that, a beautiful story of redemption. A very loose interpretation of what the life of ‘Le Jongleur de Notre Dame’ with a grim twist. I would even go so far as to say this is probably one of the best Faustian stories I’ve ever read, and a very easy read cover to cover.

Digging in the digital closet for a few tunes to liven up an otherwise dead party? Well, don’t worry. The 2014 playlist is finally ready, with 13 tracks old and new. Spooky and fun enough to get the bones rattling.

Don’t let the Burt Reynolds-esque Hulk on the cover deceive you. The monster in this comic looks nothing like that. In this first comic, I didn’t have so much fun with the actual story as just admiring the style. I love the heavy shadows and expressions the artist employs with all of the characters in this comic. The second story was equally impressive with it’s own flare of style and femme fatales. I honestly just wish the second one could have been a bit longer and the first a bit shorter.

There is nothing I love more than a mint julep, a warm summer night, and a pretentious theatre troupe digging up the dead. Why, I do declare it is the most lovely evening one can imagine. So why don’t we just all relax upon the back patio and enjoy ourselves a long, slow review with […]

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Summer is coming. I think we all know what that means–vacations. Whether it’s to a mundane motel on a stretch of beach far from civilization, a run-down mental hospital in Romania, or a charming Irish castle packed to the brim with cranky ghosts, everybody needs to unwind. This week, that’s just what Corey and […]

All around the world, it’s the same song – – weddings and honeymoons are nothing but trouble. Don’t take it from us, take it from Gene Wilder and Chevy Chase. They only ever end up in zany mayhem, mutant babies, and crazy capers with werewolves and drunken butlers. Join us in this episode as […]

I hope you’ve got a license to drive. Don’t want to get lost, boys. After all, you can’t kill gremlins or ghounies with a silver bullet. Now that we’ve got all the references to movies we’re not talking about out of the way, this is our belated April Fools special in which Corey finally […]